22/10/2025
Creating your own cactus garden…
There are numerous reasons to start a cactus garden. Do you love the intriguing and often otherworldly look of cacti and other succulents?
You can plant a cactus garden outdoors, or bring it inside to add unique character to your decor.
A good formula for cactus soil is one-third horticultural sand, one-third cactus compost (you can use a regular potting mix for this, but remove any large pieces of wood or twigs), and one-third grit in the form of pumice, perlite, or porous gravel. Mix these ingredients thoroughly before planting.
Pincushion plants (Mammillaria sp.) form small balls or "fingers" and have an evenly spaced, thick coating of spines. They often produce brightly colored flowers.
Sea urchin (Echinopsis sp.) are ball-shaped cacti with small, widely spaced thorns. They have very pretty flowers and are excellent beginner's cacti.
Ruby ball cactus is actually two cacti in one: the top, colorful ball—often red—is Gymnocalycium grafted onto a green base cactus (usually Hylocereus undatus). These are sometimes sold as 'moon cactus.'
Hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus sp.) has a sprawling growth pattern and often produces colorful flowers.
Crown cactus (Rebutia sp.) grows in a cluster of small balls with a thick coating of hairy thorns. This is one of the easiest cacti to grow indoors.
Pilosocereus pachycladus is a fairly large, fast-growing cactus with a folded, star-like shape and fuzzy-looking spines running down the edge of each fold.
Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgessii), also called winter cactus, is a popular holiday plant with colorful flowers at the ends of its drooping branches.
Hope you enjoyed this little insight into the quirky flowering plant…Cactus 🌵